


Life in Her Yet

by MaddieKittie



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: A Happy Ending, Alternate Canon, F/M, Fellowship of the Ring, If You Squint - Freeform, frodo and sam meet tauriel, kiliel - Freeform, pain. lots of pain, you'll probably cry though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 06:07:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3639597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieKittie/pseuds/MaddieKittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been two weeks since Frodo and Sam left the Fellowship. As they make their way through a dense forest, a forgotten elf from the time of Thorin Oakenshield descends upon them, and tells the hobbits of her tragic story, and the true events that led up to the Battle of the Five Armies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life in Her Yet

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to proofreading it and posting it. This ficlet is inspired by the song "Life in Her Yet" by Rag'n'Bone Man. I heard it several weeks ago, and I feel that it relates so much to Tauriel post botfa. I suggest reading it alone, where you can cry shamelessly. Heaven knows I did writing it.

Frodo and Sam shuffle through the forest. The weather has been foul for days now, and their spirits were low. Only a fortnight had passed since they left the Fellowship, but already the two hobbits missed their companions terribly.

“Mister Frodo,” Sam said, breaking the long silence. “Do you suppose we could stop for lunch now? We’ve cleared at least three leagues since we set off this morning.”

Frodo shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Might as well stop for a bite to eat. Eventually they would have to cut down their meals to one or two a day, but they could manage to eat lunch for a while yet. The Lady Galadriel had been most generous with the provisions she gave them.

The halflings found a nice tree to lean against and they shrugged off their packs to sit and repair a meal. Sam set about making a small cook fire while Frodo grabbed some jerky from their bags to make a nice stew. Sam hummed softly to himself as he set about preparing the food while Frodo leaned against the tree and lit his pipe.

Just as Sam put the lid on the cast iron pot for it to simmer a bit, a lithe figure dropped from the tree above them with a flash of red and green. The person quickly drew their bow, knocked an arrow, and aimed it at the very surprised Samwise Gamgee.

Frodo dropped his pipe and sprang up. To his great surprise, the creature aiming the weapon at Sam was an elf unlike any he had ever seen before. It was a she-elf clad in a faded green tunic covered in patches. Her hair was fiery red and had several braids and beads that appeared to be dwarvish. She had a scar on her cheek, and her nose was lightly smattered with freckles. Her bow was unlike any elvish bow, and the arrows were clearly handmade with any materials she could find. The elleth looked positively feral.

“Move and he dies,” she hissed, her green eyes staring sharply at Frodo.

Frodo slowly raised his hands above his head. “We mean you no harm, lady elf. We are but simple travelers.”

“You’re hobbits, are you not?” she questioned.

“Yes,” Frodo said slowly. “How did you know that? Most elves do not know of our kind.”

“I met a hobbit once, long ago,” she answered, her voice softer now. She lowered her bow and arrow and continued, “Bilbo Baggins was his name, I believe.”

Frodo raised his eyebrows. “You knew Bilbo?”

The elf nodded. “Do you know him?”

“Yes, he is my uncle,” he replied. “He’s currently living in Rivendell with Lord Elrond.”

At this, the elf placed her arrow back into its quiver and slung her bow over her shoulder. She bowed to the hobbits and said, “Tauriel, at your service. Any friend of Bilbo’s is a friend of mine.”

Sam crossed his arms and scowled, not fully believing that such a fierce woman would be at their service. But Frodo smiled at her.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Frodo Baggins, and this is my companion, Samwise Gamgee.”

“ _Goheno nin,_ Master Baggins and Master Gamgee,” Tauriel said, “for taking arms against you.”

“It’s quite alright,” Frodo smiled. “Would you care for some lunch? Sam has just made some stew.”

“I would be honored,” Tauriel bowed her head. “ _Hannon le._ ”

Sam took out three bowls and filled each one with the steaming broth. He handed them out and sat down with his own.

“So tell me, how did you know Bilbo?” Frodo asked.

Tauriel sipped at her stew and answered, “I met him after the Battle of the Five Armies, at the funeral for Thorin Oakenshield, Fili, and Kili.” The elleth’s voice cracked slightly when she said Kili, but the hobbits didn’t acknowledge it. “I was the Captain of the Guard when the Company escaped the Woodland realm in barrels.”

“Why is it that Mister Bilbo never mentioned you in his tales of his adventure?” Sam asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. “So he did leave me out then.” At the confused expressions on the hobbit’s faces, she elaborated. “You see, I asked for Bilbo to exclude me when he told the story of Thorin’s Company. There are certain people that I do not wish to find me, and the memories are… painful,” she said quietly.

“And who do you not want to find you?” Frodo wondered.

“There are several,” she said, “But mostly Prince Legolas of Mirkwood.”

“Legolas!” Frodo exclaimed. “Why, he was part of our Fellowship until two weeks ago.”

Tauriel became startled. “He is not with you now though, or near here?”

Frodo shook his head and Sam said, “No, m’lady. Mister Frodo and myself left the Fellowship. We don’t know where Legolas is now.”

“Why do you not want him finding you?” Frodo asked, his curiosity peeked.

“That, _mellon nin_ , is a long story.”

Sam leaned his back against the tree and pulled out his pipe. “I could use a long story myself.”

Tauriel chuckled softly but nodded.

“Well, it all started in Mirkwood. Myself, Legolas, and a handful of other guards were out patrolling our boarders for spiders before Mereth Nuin Giliath. We stumbled upon the Company as they battled a nest of them, and we quickly dispatched all of the spiders. I saved Kili, Thorin’s youngest nephew, from a straggler. Your uncle was nowhere in sight. In fact, we never knew of his existence until we saw him fall into the river behind the dwarves.

“After all of the spiders were killed, we rounded up the dwarves. For they were trespassing in our kingdom, and King Thranduil would have any trespasser imprisoned, especially and group of dwarves. So we took their weapons and armor and anything else that may have been used for a means to escape, and we led them to the Woodland Kingdom.

“As we were throwing them into the cells, Kili flirted with me unabashedly. He was very charming and rather tall for a dwarf, with almost no beard to speak of,” Tauriel said fondly, with a small smile on her lips.

“I was instantly drawn to him, and over the course of the next several days, I found myself at the door to his cell more often than not. We talked on many menial things, especially archery. Kili was an archer, you see, something very uncommon among dwarves. I remember promising him that I would make sure that his bow, which he specially crafted himself, was kept safe.”

Tauriel paused and grabbed the bow from her shoulder and rested it in her lap. Frodo then realized that the bow was distinctly dwarvish, covered in Khuzdul text and runes. “After your uncle helped the dwarves escape, Kili was shot in the leg with a Morgul shaft by the orc pack that was tracking them. I was devastated to hear this, knowing that the poison would quickly claim his life. Despite my king’s orders, I grabbed my weapons, along with Kili’s bow, and set out after them.

“Legolas came after me, and together we tracked the orcs and dwarves to Lake-town. The orcs had just descended on the dwarves who didn’t leave for the Lonely Mountain, and when they discovered that Thorin was not among them, they left to pursue them.

“Legolas ordered me to follow, but I saw Kili screaming in pain and I knew that I had to save him. I was able to draw out the poison with Athelas and save his life. In Kili’s dazed state, he asked me if I could have loved him…”

Tauriel took a deep, jagged breath but continued, “Not long after, Smaug descended upon Lake-town, and Bard the Dragon Slayer set out with the black arrow. I rounded up the dwarves and Bard’s children, and we set out to escape the burning town in a small fishing boat.

“The day after the dragon was killed the dwarves took their leave. Kili asked me to come with him. He told me he wasn’t afraid of how he felt, and he called me his _amrâlimê._ Just then, Legolas approached us and told me I was needed elsewhere. I was torn between my dwarf and following the orders of my prince, but in the end I went Legolas. Kili gave me the runestone his mother gave him, and told me to keep it as a promise to return to him.

“I have had many years to wonder how things would be different if I wasn’t so scared of my feelings and went with him,” she whispered, her voice dripping in shame. She shook her head and grabbed a braid to fiddle with it.

“When Legolas and I arrived at the Battle, Kili and his kin had gone to Ravenhill, where they would be ambushed by Azog the Defiler. I raced there as fast as my legs would carry me, but I was too late. Bolg, Azog’s son, was facing Kili. I did my best to slay the orc, but he threw me off of him and onto the ground. Before I could even get up, Bolg ran Kili through with the sharpened end of his mace.

“Legolas distracted the orc away from me, and I crawled over to Kili. He was barely breathing when I got to him. He smiled when he saw me, and asked me to marry him as his dying wish. I was weeping heavily, but of course I agreed. With weak arms and hands, he put a dwarvish marriage braid in my hair and secured it with one of the beads in his hair. We said our short vows, and before we could touch our lips together, he died.”

A hot tear fell out of Tauriel’s eye, and her voice became hoarse. “I have never undone the braid that he put in my hair, you know,” she said as she softly ran her fingers down it. “Even as he was dying, he was able to make is strong enough to last for sixty years.

“I met Bilbo at the funeral for Kili and his brother and uncle. He asked me who I was and how I fit into the story, so I told him everything, very much like I am now telling you. When I was finished I asked to be left out of any tales he may tell. He agreed, and we parted ways as friends.

“After the funeral, I fled the mountain with only my daggers, the clothes on my back, and Kili’s bow. Many times I almost faded, but I knew in my heart that Kili would want me to live for him. So, here I am, wandering Arda and living.”

Both Frodo and Sam were speechless for a while after Tauriel finished. This was much different from what Bilbo always told them, but they knew it in their hearts that it was true. Finally, Tauriel broke the silence.

“Now I must ask what it is that you’re doing so far from home.”

“Well…” Frodo said. “It’s an even longer story than yours. The shortened version is that when Bilbo was in the Misty Mountains on his journey with the dwarves, he found a ring, the One Ring. Sauron has awoken and is actively seeking out this ring, which I now carry. With Sam now my only companion, I am traveling to Mordor to destroy the ring in Mount Doom.”

Tauriel’s eyebrows shot upward. “My, my, Master Hobbits. That is quite a task.” She smiled for a moment. “I would help you, Frodo and Sam, as best that I can.”

Frodo and Sam glanced at each other. They had just left the Fellowship, and they were worried about adding another member to their small party.

“At least let me guide you out of the forest,” Tauriel suggested, seeing their hesitation. “There have been orcs wandering through it as of late.”

Frodo and Sam agreed, and they all packed up their little camp and began to head out of the woods.

 

* * *

 

 

Just as the hobbits and elf were coming to the edge of the forest, they heard the distinct howl of a warg. Tauriel quickly whipped out her bow and Frodo unsheathed a glowing Sting.

The small pack of orcs came upon them quickly. Tauriel managed to shoot several of them, but she quickly had to sling the bow back over her shoulder and pull out her twin daggers. The elleth frantically swung and slashed. Frodo killed several orcs himself, and Sam even managed to dispatch of one with his frying pan.

Tauriel spun on her heel and threw a blade at an orc who was just about to cut down Frodo. Before she could turn back to the last orc, she felt a sudden, searing pain rip through her abdomen, and she cried out.

The orc laughed and withdrew his sword from her. Before it could swing again, Tauriel whipped around and decapitated it.

Tauriel’s breath came out fast and uneven, and she quickly lost the strength to stand. She fell to the ground hard, and grunted in pain. Her shaking hands hovered over her wound, and they quickly became covered in warm blood.

“Tauriel!” Frodo cried as the hobbits rushed to her side. “Tauriel what do it do? Do I put pressure on the wound?”

“T-there is nothing you can do,” she stammered. “This is fatal.”

“But you can’t die!” Sam insisted, tears springing to his face.

“Frodo,” she whispered. “When you tell the tale of your journey, please leave me out of it. My story is sad, and I do not want it to mar the beauty of your heroism.”

Frodo shook his head, but she pleaded, “Please.”

A tear slipped down Frodo’s face and he nodded. “You have my word.”

“Thank you,” Tauriel smiled. “Farewell, Master Baggins.”

She felt herself fading, and the pain in her body became less with each moment. Her vision dimmed, and then all she could see was white. The faraway sound of Sam crying grew fainter and fainter, until she couldn’t hear it at all.

“Tauriel,” a deep, familiar voice said. “ _Amralime._ ”

“Kili?” she whispered.

The dark haired dwarf came into view, and he knelt down beside her, a small smile on his lips. “Yes, I’m here now.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” she murmured.

“I know my love,” he said gently. “I’ve missed you too, and I’ve been waiting for you. But I am so proud of you for living so long without me. You are so brave.”

“I-I’m sorry for dying,” she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. “I tried so hard.”

“I know _amrâlimê,_ andyou don’t have to be sorry,” he assured her. “It’s all okay now. You won’t ever feel pain again, or sadness, or despair. You lived your life, which is all I ever wanted. It’s okay to give up now.”

“Stay with me,” she pleaded. “I’m scared. I don’t want to be alone.”

Kili gently caressed her cheek. “I’m here with you Tauriel, and I’m not leaving. I’m here.”

Tauriel nodded and let out a long breath. “I love you.”

“As I love you,” Kili whispered and softly kissed her cheek. “Now let go _amrâlimê._ I am here with you. Let go and we will never be separated again.”

Tauriel smiled at him. She was ready. With a final breath, Tauriel let go, and finally, _finally,_ joined Kili in death.


End file.
